Local Regulations May Prompt Extra Flood Insurance Help

BATON ROUGE, La. — If your home or business is damaged by a flood, you may be required to meet certain building requirements in your community to reduce future flood damage before you repair or rebuild. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Standard Flood Insurance Policy provides Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) coverage, which may be available to help cover the costs of meeting those requirements, subject to eligibility.

If eligible, NFIP insurance policyholders may receive up to $30,000 of ICC coverage to help pay the costs to bring their building into compliance with their community’s floodplain ordinance. The coverage availability and payment limits are subject to the terms of the policy and maximum coverage limits, including all applicable NFIP rules and regulations.

Four options you can take to comply with your community’s floodplain management ordinance to reduce future flood damage include:

  • Elevation. This raises your home or business to or above the flood elevation level adopted by your community.
  • Relocation. This moves your home or business out of harm’s way.
  • Demolition. This tears down and removes flood-damaged buildings.
  • Floodproofing. This option is available primarily for non-residential buildings. It involves making a building watertight through a combination of adjustments or additions of features to the building that reduces the potential for flood damage.

You may be eligible to file a claim for your ICC coverage in two instances:

  1. When your community determines that your building is “substantially damaged,” wherein the cost to repair or improve the structure exceeds its market value by a threshold amount adopted by law or ordinance. Community building officials are responsible for the issuance of substantial damage declarations.
  2. When your community has a “repetitive loss” provision in its floodplain management ordinance and determines that your building was damaged by a flood two times in the past 10 years, where the cost of repairing the flood damage, on average, equaled or exceeded 25 percent of its market value at the time of each flood.

If your community does determine that your building is substantially or repetitively damaged, a local official will explain the floodplain management ordinance provisions that you will have to meet. You may also want to consult with the local official before you make the final decision about which of the options to pursue.

Once your community has made its determination, contact your insurer or insurance agent to file an ICC claim. You should start getting estimates from contractors to take the necessary steps to FRED — floodproof, relocate, elevate or demolish.

When the work is completed, local officials will inspect it and issue a certificate of occupancy or a confirmation letter.

It’s important to remember that only policyholders with substantially or repetitively flood-damaged buildings may be eligible for ICC coverage. ICC helps pay for the costs of meeting the floodplain management requirements adopted by law or ordinance in your community. Any item paid for in the original flood damage claim cannot be duplicated in the ICC payment.

For more information on ICC coverage, call your insurance company or agent, or call the NFIP toll-free at 800-427-4661. TDD# 800-427-5593.

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Local Regulations May Prompt Extra Flood Insurance Help

Arkansans: Things to Know About Debris Removal

Little Rock, Ark. – For many Arkansans in Faulkner County affected by the April 27 tornadoes, cleanup is well underway. That means residents may have questions regarding the types of debris that can be left at the curb for collection and how to handle debris when a homeowner hires a contractor.

DEBRIS PLACED ON RIGHT OF WAY

Tornado-related debris is eligible for pickup and disposal by the county or municipality if residents place the following types of debris on the public right-of-way in front of their property for pick-up. When placing debris at the roadside, residents should be careful not to cover or impede access to utility meters or mailboxes.

Residents opting for curbside pick-up must separate debris into six (6) categories:

  • Vegetative debris (tree limbs, shrubs, etc.)
  • Construction/Demolition debris
  • White goods (appliances, etc.)
  • E-goods (TV’s, electronics)
  • Household hazardous (cleaning solutions, automotive chemicals, etc.)
  • Normal household garbage

DEBRIS HANDLED BY CONTRACTORS

Some homeowner’s insurance policies may cover debris removal.  Residents are reminded that if they choose to hire their own contractor, they should not place that debris on the right-of-way. The cost of debris disposal is typically included in the contractor’s estimates. Homeowners should review their insurance policies to determine if their policy covers debris removal.

Under no circumstances will reconstruction debris or demolition debris created by the property owner or the private contractor be pushed to the curb. The property owner, insurance company or contractor is responsible for removing and transporting all demolition and/or reconstruction debris to an approved designated landfill.

  • Reconstruction debris includes any construction material that must be removed from the damaged structure (shingles, portions of roofs, etc.) to bring it back to pre-disaster function.
  • Demolition debris includes construction material created by the physical deconstruction of the remaining portions of a disaster-damaged structure (walls, roof, flooring, slabs, outbuildings, etc.) in preparation for the construction of a new building.

OTHER THINGS TO BE AWARE OF WHEN HIRING CONTRACTORS

  • Watch out for:
    • Phone or door-to-door solicitors who promise to speed up the insurance, disaster assistance or building-permit process.
    • People who ask for large cash deposits or advance payments in full.
    • Promises of large amounts of money for disaster victims.
    •  FEMA/State disaster assistance funds are sent to applicants by electronic funds transfer (EFT) or through the U.S. mail ONLY!
    • People going door-to-door to damaged homes or phoning survivors and claiming to be building contractors or soliciting personal information such as Social Security or bank account numbers; they could be frauds.

Those who suspect anyone of engaging in fraudulent activities should call the FEMA Disaster Fraud Hotline at 1-866-720-5721. Complaints may also be made to local law enforcement agencies and through the Arkansas Attorney General Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-482-8982.

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Arkansans: Things to Know About Debris Removal